So we actually know where we are …but don’t know where we are headed next. That’s the life here in the Maldives currently….lots of day hops to islands and decision made on the fly whether to stop here or there…always depending on the anchorage conditions. This is the style of life most people imagine when they think about the cruising life…taking it one day at a time, going to uninhabited places where you are the only ones really there, and just enjoying nature. It has been a while since Trevor and I have been able to do this to it’s fullest…possibly the Tuamotu’s or Mopelia in French Polynesia was the last time! It feels good : )
It’s been a blast here spending time with SV Starry Horizons, David and Amy Alton, while we can before they pick up guests in about a 2 weeks. Together, we have been snorkeling daily, dinners almost every night, and even movie nights! Have to say the last week buddy boating has been a blast with these two! Here is a recap:
Dhapparu Island: Way point – 06 54.9436 N, 073 13.6926 E
aka “D” Island – we have coined each island with a letter of the alphabet the islands starts with….makes passage planning a lot faster.
OpenCPN screen shot….Charts are definitely off…. so Google imagery and EYEBALLS are a MUST!
To start off….it has been BLOODY HOT here in the Maldives (most days it’s been 95 degrees F / 35 degrees C). The general strategy for us was to get here when we could enjoy most of the anchorages in the atolls which some are exposed and quite a few require “settled weather”. April here is the transitional period between NE and SE monsoons: shifting winds but mild and additionally, we are close to the equator so this equates to very little winds…which means it’s VERY HOT!
This happens EVERY DAY….me sitting in front of the AC unit to cool down. We have used the generator to run the AC a LOT more than we thought we would. Literally, by about 9 am and 1 chore on the boat accomplished, we are dripping with sweat….
Besides the fossil fuel burning AC to cool us down…we of course used the “all natural” AC…the water! We hop in the water every day to escape the heat, sometimes for hours!!!!
There is a nice beach here and Trevor, Amy, and I went ashore to check out a lake on the island we saw on Google images and to just hang out on the beach…perfect time for Trevor to get out the drone.
Nobody tasted the water to see if it was fresh or salt water, or both…but it was full of iron (reddish/brownish color)?! Yeah..going to leave that on our curiosity list for now…
Drone time…unfortunately Trevor learned his camera gimbal is broken so everything is just tiled to one side or the other…like this photo…LOL
This is just for fun….. Not sure why there was a toilet on the beach…but Trevor is trying it out…not a bad view!
Kimi had paddle board lessons from Amy…a very good teacher I might add….I didn’t fall down, however we didn’t go very far and there was no wind or swell to deal with.
Who said you can’t teach old dogs new tricks?! 
I found it interesting that I couldn’t look down while paddling
SV Starry Horizons has a GIGANTIC TV aboard…. so to gear up for our travels to Madagascar…we thought it would be fun to get familiar with the “native” characters : ) And that’s a wrap of “D Island”!
“I like to move it, move it….. 
“I like to move it, move it….. 
“you like to….MOVE IT!” 
Movie night always consisted of watching the sunset, dinner, and G&T’s…ok one night we switched it up with rum and juice : )
Utheem Island: Way point – 06 49.8626 N, 073 07.0581 E
There wasn’t a great place to anchor in sand and we hate to anchor in coral for obvious reasons (chain wrapping and don’t want to damage the coral)….but we found a place outside the boat harbor in about 20+ feet of water.
The decision to stop here was entirely based on a Lonely Planet recommendation. There is a Wood Palace here that was used by the Maldivian national hero, Sultan Mohammed Thakurufaanu, who, alongside his brothers, overthrew Portuguese rule in 1573. Well we thought it was smart of us to stayed at “D Island” one more night to wait to visit Utheem on a Sunday which is the start of their work week….silly us…we forgot to check the local holiday’s here in the Maldives and when we arrived the Wood Palace was closed….go figure!
Trevor and David chilling out trying out the local chairs.
However, when we arrived inside the boat harbor, we were met by a local who inquired about our visit to his island. We replied a lunch stop and Wood palace tour was on the agenda. He kindly told us of the local restaurant that would be open today for lunch…which his brother owned…. he asked us what type of food we wanted and that he would arrange everything for us! The phrase “we know people” started at this moment, as you will see a reoccurring theme over our 2-3 hours visit here with Ayya on Utheem!
His name is Ayya Sunaan but his nick name is “Bale” as in Gareth Bale, the famous
Welsh football (soccer) player…. he was so humble when he told us the story of his nickname but we are pretty sure he is a really good football player. He has a gorgeous 11 month old daughter and has worked in the hospitality industry for years after school.
Ayya gave us directions to the Wood Palace, though it would be hard to get lost here as it took all of 5 minutes to walk the entire island, and we took pleasure at the clean and modern facilities here.
Main street to walk across the town to the other side of the island… 
Solar panels as roofs and organized sitting areas…. 
Pets…..although they were chained, they were well fed! 
Huge fruit tree covered with netting to keep the fruit bats away…. 
Colorful playground…. 
Proper football field, though you could smell the AstroTurf melting in the sun. Games happen at 5:30 pm, cool enough to play and between prayer times. 
The Mosque….well kept! 
This a 500 year Kaani old tree which was used to fix the famous Sultan
Mohammed Thakurufaanu ‘s weaving loom.
At the other side of the island on the beach, the locals were catching octopus. I guess you turn them inside out and they die?!
When we arrived at the Wood Palace, aka “Utheemu Ganduvaru”, the doors were locked. Ayya found us wondering around the palace and told us it was a holiday today….oh well…we will just try to peek over the wall….then 2 men came and literally opened up the outer gates for us! Ayya made a phone call…we are sure of it!
We weren’t allowed inside the museum area, but at least we were able to walk around the outside grounds….watch your head…these structures were very short/low hanging roofs as we all hit our heads on the exact same overhang!
After our impromptu tour of the Wood Palace it was time for lunch that Ayya organized for us back at the pier. The Beach Taste restaurant was full of local guys discussing politics (elections just happened the day before) while we were shown upstairs on the deck to enjoy some local cuisine. The view was breathtaking and the service was great….Ayya would clap his hands every time we needed something….again feeling like royalty! Additionally, Ayya invited us to go snorkeling to catch fish just after lunch…we declined as we were concerned about good viability needed for our next anchor spot (lots of reefs!!!!) but I was seriously considering it!
At lunch we were discussing where we wanted to anchor that night and found a resort close by. Ayya said he would make a phone call as he knew someone there. He inquired for us the cost for us to anchor in their “lagoon” and a price to come ashore to enjoy a proper (one not made by Trevor or I) cocktail. We eventually decided not to go there but was impressed by his connections and willingness to help us…we had only met him an hour ago!
The Beach Taste restaurant even showed up on Google Maps…. we should of done a review of the place! 
Fish curry and Chapati…which I have been calling it Roti which is WRONG! 
This is Mas Huni a Maldivian breakfast food. Similar to our tuna salad without the mayo and add peppers! 
Cool old boat out front of the restaurant…. 
“Ahhhhh”…..said Lord David!
Ayya walked us back to the pier but on the way, we stopped by a boat building facility. The man that owns this facility builds very large vessels that takes a couple of years. I guess he is one of the only people to build these type of boats so it’s special that he is from this island.
It was an impressive operation and trust me, you could smell the polyester resin form afar. It looked like the boat is built on top of these wood stilts, not sure how they get the boat to the water but if you ever need fiberglass work done in the Maldives…here would be a good place to start : )
What a crazy success this day stop was…even though the Wood Palace was closed. Ayya made it an incredibly memorable time…how lucky were we to run into him!
Ayya...thank you so much for all your time and energy you spent with us, explaining the history of the island, the boat building, and organizing lunch for us…your kindness is so genuine and we all so appreciate you! We wish you the best and let’s keep in touch (love FaceBook)!
Rusfushi Island : Way point – 06 42.7912 N, 072 55.2394 E
aka “R”Island…..we knew this anchorage could be a deep one but we thought maybe we could cross the reef and anchor inside the lagoon. However, David dropped the dinghy to check out depth…it was a no go with 4 feet at mid-low tide. So anchor in 90 feet of water it is. No wind, some current, we weren’t too worried about the 3:1 scope of chain but we did set our anchor watch alarm, just in case the wind did pick up.
Let’s just say our 3 nights here were just amazing!!!! To sum it up…all we did was snorkel and share dinners on Slow Flight with SV Starry Horizons. I am sure David and Amy were way more productive than we were, but that is literally all we did here!
There was a massive coral bleaching worldwide in 2014, the Maldives did not escape this and in fact, has been continuously effected by raising water temperatures…
It is evident!
However, not all is lost…we are seeing new growth and both small and large fish species…finger crossed of a full recovery!
Thanks to David on SV Starry Horizons who contributed most of these photos as my Go Pro was on the fritz!
Oriental Sweet Lips. 
“Nemo” 
“Dory” 
Morrish Idol 
Parrot Fish 
No idea what these guys are… 
HUGE grouper! 
No idea what these guys are… either…
Lion fish 
“Do you see me?”…said the very venomous Stone Fish
What type of sea creature is she? A rockin’ mermaid! 
This guy must be a comedian fish….
So this is how stupid silly I am: I swore Easter Sunday was on April 7th….I actually made Trevor pull out a pork loin to make for “Easter” dinner….so we invited SV Starry Horizons over…thinking to share an American Holiday together (we all are USA flagged boats).. however, as I am calling them on the vfh radio to invite them I had an urge to check the internet to make sure it was Easter…I was totally wrong! So we had an “early” Easter dinner with roasted veggies, pork loin, and rice with a 2015 Bordeaux for dinner that night…..oh well…just another excuse to have another dinner later ; )
I made Trevor a foil bunny hat he had to wear all evening… 
As bunny do….love their carrots…. 
It might of been a bit HOT! 
He survived….no worries : )
Thank you SV Starry Horizons (David and Amy Alton) for this amazing Drone shot of our boats!
And that’s a wrap of our last week so far….next up….Diesel fill up at “K Island”….or maybe not!
Hello buddy
Have a nice journeys back to US
I’m Zar your partner at royal international Langkawi regatta.
Very good view at Maldives area.
Hopefully you arrived safely to every port until u arrive US.